How to Build a Trellis for Green Beans

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How to Build a Trellis for Green Beans

Overview

Green beans are a must for every vegetable garden. They are easy to grow and add colorful crunch and nutrition to soups, stir-fry dishes, salads and even pickles. If you choose a pole bean variety, long vines reward you with hundreds of beans throughout the growing season. But you do need to provide support for the rambling beanstalks to keep them off the ground, where hungry insects and snails are more likely to damage. Your trellis can be as simple as a "teepee" made from bamboo stakes.

Step 1

Plant your pole beans in circular mounds. Insert bean seeds several inches apart and about ½ inch deep around the outer edge of your mound. Eight beans per mound is a good number to plant. Build multiple mounds, according to the number of bean plants you want to grow.

Step 2

Create your trellis by lashing together three or four bamboo stakes about one foot from their upper end. Use your twine for this. You will be able to spread the "feet" of the stakes apart far enough to insert them into the soil near your bean plants.

Step 3

Make 8- to 12-inch holes where your stakes' ends will go. Using a screwdriver or weeding tool, dig holes large enough for the bamboo stakes and deep enough to give them support. Insert one stake into each hole and fill the hole with soil, pressing it down to secure the stake. If you place your stakes just inside the circle of bean plants in your mound, it will be easier for the vines to grow up the poles.

Step 4

Twist your growing bean plants around the stakes as soon as they start to develop tendrils. Once trained to the pole, they will grow up the trellis with no further help.

Things You'll Need

8-foot bamboo stakes

Twine

Screwdriver or weeding tool

References

Happy Farming: Building a Better Bean Trellis

University of Minnesota Extension: Trellises and Cages for Vegetable Gardens

Alabama Cooperative Extension Service: Bean Teepee Project for Kids

Who Can Help

Cultivating Life: Building a Better Bean Trellis

Meadowwood Garden: Super Sturdy Trellis

Keywords:
green beans, trellis arbor, vegetables support

About this Author

Barbara Fahs lives on Hawaii island, where she has created Hi‘iaka's Healing Herb Garden. Barbara wrote "Super Simple Guide to Creating Hawaiian Gardens," and has been a professional writer since 1984. She contributes to Big Island Weekly, Ke Ola magazine, GardenGuides.com and eHow.com. She earned her B.A. at UCSB and her M.A. from San Jose State University.